Social value is more than a checklist or task, it’s about improved ways of working and culture, says Lauren Bailey at Ridge

“Have you done your social value?”  

People often talk about social value in this way, as if it’s a box you tick once before moving on. But you wouldn’t ever say you’d “done” health and safety, and social value should be the same. It’s a continuous, evolving process. It’s strategy, systems and behaviours. It requires you to look at your frameworks and policies to understand how well they are driving economic and social value, and how much more they could achieve.   

The Procurement Act 2023, which came into force this February, marks a pivotal shift in public procurement. It enshrines the principle of maximising public benefit in legislation for the first time, and places social value at the core of decision-making. The shift from seeking the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) to the wider Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) means social value is no longer positioned as a peripheral concern, but as a strategic imperative.  

Social value is much wider than procurement, and this is just the beginning of what we can achieve. But I believe procurement teams will play a pivotal role in unlocking social value in the housing sector, and using it to catalyse positive outcomes for communities.  

Social value is much wider than procurement, and this is just the beginning of what we can achieve. But I believe procurement teams will play a pivotal role in unlocking social value in the housing sector, and using it to catalyse positive outcomes for communities.  

Reflections from CIH Brighton 2025

I took part in a panel discussion at Housing Brighton about the implications of the new legislation for housing providers and their supply chains, and how they can establish transparency while delivering on social value.  

As we took questions from the audience, it became clear that the biggest challenge was translating policy into practice. In many organisations, it’s still just words on paper. Could this strategy gap – the gulf between “doing” social value and living it – be the reason?  

Local authorities are in the driving seat on social value, and they are large, complex organisations. I saw this first-hand during my time as Social Value Manager at the London Borough of Westminster, looking after a portfolio of organisations in our supply chain. Risks to their performance included overcommitting and underdelivering, dispersing their efforts too widely so the impact was net negative, or becoming paralysed by complexity and doing very little. Often it was because social value was an add-on to one person’s job, rather than something everyone was responsible for delivering.  

Why social value needs to be a strategic priority

I was joined on the panel by Morris Williams, social housing procurement manager at developer and housing association L&Q, who explained how they’re embedding social value into procurement policies. Meanwhile, I was presenting a supplier’s view, talking about everything we’ve been doing to implement it.  

A key theme that emerged during the discussion was the disconnect between procurement and contract management. Too often, social value is considered during tendering but forgotten during delivery. If contract managers are not engaged with the social value objectives of a project, it becomes difficult to monitor, report or achieve meaningful outcomes. In most cases contract managers require upskilling on what is meant by social value. 

Too often, social value is considered during tendering but forgotten during delivery. If contract managers are not engaged with the social value objectives of a project, it becomes difficult to monitor, report or achieve meaningful outcomes.

This reinforces the need for joined-up governance and better internal communication. Social value cannot sit with one team or function, it must be owned across the organisation, with clear lines of responsibility from procurement through to post-contract evaluation. 

Something I’m really passionate about is opening up procurement opportunities to SMEs, VCSEs and local suppliers, and removing systemic barriers to participation. This is a good example of how the housing sector can use social value as a lever to support local economies, especially in such a challenging environment for businesses. There are often many local companies that could do the job, but they may be prevented from tendering – perhaps they don’t have the correct Professional Indemnity insurance in place. By encouraging larger businesses to work with smaller ones, we have an opportunity to deliver local economic value, as well as avoiding the environmental impacts of bringing skills in from miles away.

What we need to do differently

If we are to realise the ambition of the Procurement Act, we must move beyond transactional compliance and embrace a strategic, systems-based approach to social value.  

Unlocking that opportunity requires a change in procurement practices and a more responsible approach: it’s not enough to take the person who shouts the loudest, or creates the most polished submission. We’ve not only got to change our behaviours, we’ve got to challenge existing structures and embrace systemic change. Social value can’t function on the periphery of a  business, it needs to exist at its core.  

We’ve not only got to change our behaviours, we’ve got to challenge existing structures and embrace systemic change. Social value can’t function on the periphery of a  business, it needs to exist at its core.  

That is absolutely true for suppliers too. At Ridge, we are undertaking thousands of projects at any one time – last year, we won 104 jobs with a social value component. It’s not realistic to expect to deliver at a high level when you’re taking a piecemeal approach: implementing social value reactively on a project-by-project basis will cost far more than if we proactively invest to embed it company-wide, so it becomes a core function. We’ve aligned ourselves to official standards to provide reassurance to our clients, and that we’ll live and breathe our values in every aspect. We don’t want to deliver a top-quality project that fulfils our client’s aspirations, but underperform on social value.  

That’s not in the spirit of the Procurement Act, and more importantly, it’s not fair to the communities who are meant to benefit from social value.  

Changing lives for the better is the housing sector’s mission – and that’s not a task with a finish line. Social value should be seen in the same light: not as a box to tick, but as a mindset to embed. When it becomes part of every decision, every project and every conversation, we don’t just deliver homes, we create lasting impact. 

Lauren Bailey is Head of Social Value at Ridge. To find out more, you can contact Lauren at laurenbailey@ridge.co.uk